


The Way to a Man's Heart

by Twigasus



Series: The Inquisition Fine Dining [1]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Modern Thedas, Multi, blink and you miss it Lavellan/Cullen, restaurant AU, vivienne and blackwall are business partners
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 14:16:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7895863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twigasus/pseuds/Twigasus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dorian Pavus, Tevinter exile and talented mixologist in Orlais, gets a job offer from the famous Madame de Fer. She recruits him to run the bar at her new restaurant, The Inquisition, an upscale eatery in the up and coming city of Haven. Little does Dorian know he'll be working closely with Dmitri Trevelyan, the Inquisition's charismatic and handsome head chef. </p>
<p>A.K.A. I've been watching way too much Bar Rescue and came up with a restaurant AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Way to a Man's Heart

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fanfic I've written in probably six years (and actual first on AO3). I blame Dorian's character in DA:I for inspiring me to write again. :]

“You do realize the Frostbacks are cold, right?” Dorian rolled his eyes, taking a sip from his expresso. “Yes, I realize I’m about to move to the coldest part of Ferelden Felix. The name of the mountain range rather gave that part away.” He was sitting outside of a trendy cafe in downtown Val Royeaux with his best friend and soon to be ex-roommate Felix.“Regardless of how much of a popsicle I’m bound to become, I couldn’t pass up the job. Bartending in Val Royeaux has been delightful in it’s own way, but I’ve been given the chance to be the head mixologist for Madame de Fer’s new venture. I’d be quite the fool to turn it down, even if it is in the ass end of Ferelden.” 

 

The job offer had been a bit of a surprise to Dorian. The previous evening he was working his usual shift when none other than Madame de Fer, fashion icon and prominent investor in all things decadent, sat at his bar with a rather gruff looking bearded man. The pair ordered a stream of complicated drinks all night, giving Dorian a run for his money. But he was _the best_ at his job, and he completed each drink perfectly with the flourish that had become his trademark during his time in Val Royeaux. At the end of the night, Madame de Fer paid and slid a manilla envelope across the bar to Dorian. “You, my dear, are quite the impressive mixologist. I’m currently looking for someone of your caliber to head up the bar of a restaurant my colleague Thom and I are opening in the city of Haven in Ferelden. I’d like to offer you the job.” Dorian agreed instantly, failing to realize that Haven, the city she spoke of, was both barely a city and located in probably the coldest part of Thedas. 

 

Dorian shivered, thinking about how much he wasn’t looking forward to the cold. Regardless of how fabulous he looked in sweaters, he was from Tevinter, and was thus made for sunny days and heat, not cold mountain air. He was drawn from his thoughts by sudden laughter from Felix. “You’re already shivering and you haven’t even set foot in Haven yet. How are you going to survive?” “By spending as much time as possible indoors I imagine. Besides, I’m sure I’ll get used to it eventually. I am nothing if not resilient.” There was humor in his tone, but both he and Felix realized the truth in the sentiment. Dorian was resilient. He survived an abusive childhood, being publicly disowned, and coming out as gay in one of the most intolerant countries in Thedas. Catching a little chill in Haven would be nothing. 

 

Uncomfortable with thinking about his past Dorian took another sip of his drink and attempted to change the subject. “Enough of all that. I have three weeks to figure out how to best the cold, lets talk about something more interesting…like how your courtship of that lovely girl from the university is going. You did finally ask her out, right?” Felix blushed, and they spent the rest of the afternoon chatting about Felix’s life as a graduate student at the University of Orlais.

 

** ————————————————— **

 

Three weeks later Dorian found himself standing at the baggage claim in Haven’s small airport, staring nervously at his phone. Madame de Fer, or Vivienne, as she preferred to be called, had intended to meet him at the airport but according to the message on his phone she was caught in an important meeting and was sending the restaurant’s chef instead. In her message she included a name, Dmitri Trevelyan, and a photo, a quick candid shot of a man mid-laugh. The chef, Dmitri, was tall, broad shouldered, with dark hair, done in a style similar to his own, shaved on the sides with the top left long enough to slick back. He had a full beard and mustache, with the ghost of a faded tattoo beside his left eye. In short, he was quite attractive. Which made Dorian all the more nervous. He could handle himself in front of people of all kinds well enough, but he would have to work closely with this man for the foreseeable future. What if he was terrible? Or he thought Dorian was terrible? Dorian really didn’t want to add hostile co-workers to his list of unpleasant things about his new home, the cold weather was more than enough. 

 

Dorian’s suitcase finally made an appearance on the luggage carousel, and with it firmly in hand, he made his way to the entrance of the airport. It was not hard to find Dmitri. He stood in the entrance, holding a hand drawn sign with Dorian’s name and a few doodles of beer bottles. Their eyes met and Dmitri smiled brightly before walking over to meet him. Dorian felt his heart flutter at the sight and knew that his man was going to be trouble.


End file.
